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The ' Personal ' touch
By Denis Langlois
“ It ' s a new baby to the Personal Optical family and who isn ' t excited about a new baby ?”
There are now more ways to get Personal eyewear service in St . Catharines , Ontario .
Eyewear fashionista Rachel Hill , who has owned Personal Optical for nearly 14 years , opened a second location , Personal Eyez , this summer in the Niagara Region city ' s downtown core .
“ I am very excited ,” she tells Optical Prism magazine . “ It ' s a new baby to the Personal Optical family and who isn ' t excited about a new baby ?”
Personal Eyez , located at 80 King St . across from Market Square , is a 1,700-square-foot , open-concept optical boutique with an urban professional vibe , featuring bright teal and grey walls , pipe and wood shelving and a nine-foot live-edge table that was finished by Hill ' s husband , Zoltan .
The shop opened on July 3 . Hill says St . Catharines ' downtown area has undergone significant change in recent years , which included the construction of the new , 5,300-seat Meridian Centre arena and the nearby 95,000- square-foot FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre .
“ Our city centre is a busy place for many professionals ,” she says . “ If I was to have a second location , it ' s now or never . It ' s nice to expand our frame lines between the two stores and offer more to our patients .”
Hill says the new space is much larger than the one at Personal Optical , which allows the business to offer contact lens fittings and house an edging lab so clients can receive even faster service . She says both new and existing clients are loving the new Personal Eyez store .
Hill has been an optician for more than 20 years . She started Personal Optical as a mobile optical service in 2005 and , in 2010 , opened the store in the Tremont Plaza .
44 OPTICAL PRISM October 2018